Welcome !

WE THE GRADUATES, the illustrious class of 1962, having departed from our Alma Mater some 49 years ago, have moved through the world with good effect. Among our ranks there can be found; College Professors, Mayors, Lawyers , Engineers, War Heroes, Fire Fighters, Educators, Published Authors, Artists and Well-known Entertainers just to name a few of our many, many achievements. As of this writing, we have not yet uncovered a good horse thief or pirate, but we are still searching.
If you graduated Belleville High in 1962, please contact us !! Contact classmate Norman Price - norman.price_nj@yahoo.comOr, join us on Facebook; you will find many of your classmates already gathered there at "Belleville High School Class of 1962" Veterans Note: Our class committee maintains an on-line roster of classmates who have served in the Armed Services. You can view it here ==> Roster. If you have served in the military and your name is not yet on the roster, forward your information to the email address above and it will be added to the roster with thanks.Please note: all "Links To Class of 62 Sites" are repaired and functional.NEW - Classmate Ray Hackett has shared with us his collection of Basketball action shots and news clips. Click here to view the collection ==>Basketball.NEW - A Varsity Football Program from Nov. 4, 1961 is now available in the photo gallery. The Program is courtesy of Classmate Nina Pipitone Colannino. Click here to view the Program ==> Program.

Jukebox -- It was all about the music. -- Insert 10 cents here ==> [--]

Want to hear more great oldies ? Click on "Record Player " where you can hear some great DooWop sounds and watch the records spin on vintage record players.

A new juke box featuring 25 songs popular during our Senior year 1961-62 has been added to the Class web page. -->Click here to access

The Class of 1962

A SPECIAL GROUP OF PEOPLE

Check back often as we unfold the history, exploits and adventures of the Illustrious Class of 1962 who once graced the halls and classrooms of Belleville High School, Belleville, New Jersey.

Note ! The 1962 Monad is now available to view in the photo gallery.

==============>Memories are made of this. <==============

Friday, September 24, 2010

The Alma Mater

There was a moment a few years back which, for your-author-here-present, was truely stunning; a moment that brought back all the goodness of those years I had spent at Belleville High. We were at an event at BHS while my youngest daughter was still a student there. The auditorium was filled. There were BHS alumni in the audience from every living generation. During the course of the evening, two delightful elderly ladies were introduced to us from the Class of 1927. Also present were grandparents from the WWII era, parents from the '50s and '60s, alumni from the '70s and '80s as well as the current students; the Class of '99. An occasion arose on the evening's program for the singing of The Alma Mater. At once, the auditorium filled with singing voices, everyone knew it ! A large number of those present were former graduates of Belleville High. What an incredible bonding of the generations it was. All of us, from over all of those years had one thing in common, the Belleville High School Alma Mater. I don't think I was ever quite so proud of being a BHS alumni as I was on that night. I was pleased to have remembered the words. All those times we had sung it at pep rallies and other occasions at assemblies had not been wasted on me.

The melody is old. In its earliest form, it is a melancholy folk-ballad called Annie Lisle composed by Henry S. Thompson in 1857. Sung mostly at minstrel shows, it achieved little fame on its own, however, it was lifted to immortality when it was fashioned into the Alma Mater of two major universities. First, circa 1872, with new lyrics written by students, it became the Alma Mater of Cornell University where it is known as "Far Above Cayuga's Waters". Then, in 1904, it was adopted as the Alma Mater by the nations oldest public institution of higher learning, the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Belleville High School adopted the song, with our own lyrics, as our Alma Mater in 1927. It was a good choice. It places us alongside these other great institutions. Our own village is actually older than the ancient and venerable College of William and Mary, whose alumni includes founding fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Though all three versions are "almost" identical, there are slight differences among them. On close inspection of the phrase structure of the lyrics of our song, it is probable that we based our lyrics on Cornell's version.

Our lyrics -

Nestled in the folds of JerseyIn a quiet valeStands our noble Alma MaterBelleville High all hail

Lift the chorusSing her praisesOver hill and daleHail to thee our Alma MaterBelleville High all hail-

Here is the Cornell version -

Here is the William and Mary version -

.

Here is the sheet music for our version -

Click on image to enlarge.

We have lots of time to practice so we can belt out a good, blood-rushing rendition of the old Alma Mater at our reunion ! It has been a long time since we sang it together, it will be fun.

Ann Schneider

Angela Di Maggio

Senior Home Rooms.

If you remember your Senior home room number and the name of your home room teacher, send an email and it will be added here.

The Old BHS Chevy.

Was this the first car you ever drove ?

Bassman

That's our own Ed Di Girolamo on bass at a school dance.

On sale now. Hurry, get yours !

Saturday Football

Did we fill the stadium for a Saturday football game, or what ??

Go BellBoys Go !

The Real Reason

there were so many guys at the Saturday football games was the Belleville girls !

Alex Conrad

Mr. Conrad declined to have a portrait photo taken for our year book, but he was captured here posing with the 1961 Literary Society. Who can forget his favorite quotation, "This above all, to thine own self be true."

Remember these ?

Cap Tassel

Remember hanging one of these on your car mirror ?

Johnny D and the Sounds

Rock n Roll was the language we spoke.

Gimme a "B"

"Beeee"

It's Saturday Night!

Where shall we go??

Helen Hollberg

Ach, du liebe ! .. taught me to conjugate German verbs by slamming her wooden mallet on my desk with each syllable .. 50 years later, I can still conjugate those verbs!